Fastener for garments or the like



March 15, 1955 L. ROSEMAN FASTENER FOR GARMENTS OR THE LIKE 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 14, 1952 March 15, 1955 L. ROSEMAN 2,703,889

FASTENER FOR GARMENTS OR THE LIKE Filed Oct. 14, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Zea avenger/2 United States Patent C) FASTENER FOR GARMENTS OR THE LIKELeo Roseman, Newark, N. J.

Application October 14, 1952, Serial No. 314,624

4 Claims. (Cl. 2-265) There has been a long standing need for curvedreadymade fastener tape in continuous pieces or pieces of predeterminedlengths for use on, for example, the curved edges of a panty girdle andthe detachable crotch piece thereof, or along the curved edges ofcorselettes or girdles or to conform to the edges of removable bustpockets in a brassiere. Up to the present time, it has been customary touse straight pieces of fastener tape, for example of the hook and eyetype, or the head and socket type or the button and button hole type,but such tapes when applied to the curved edges of garments causebulging or buckling of the tape in addition to bulkiness of theoverlapping fastener sections or garment edges and hard protuberancesproduced by the fastener elements which cause discomfort to the wearerof the garment.

Therefore, a prime object of my invention is to provide curvedready-made fasteners particularly adapted for connecting sections ofgarments such as girdles, brassieres, corsets, coats and the like, alongcurved lines and so constructed as to overcome the aforesaiddisadvantages inherent to the heretofore known fasteners.

It is another object of my invention to provide a fastener section for agarment having pockets therein for receiving the heads of head elementfasteners and which fastener section may be constructed in accordancewith my invention to curve concavely or convexly.

It is still another object of my invention to provide such a fastenersection having intermittent folds forming pairs of pockets therein atspaced intervals with the edges of adjacent folds disposed in angularrelation whereby the fastener section is caused to assume a curvilinearoutline.

To attain the objects and advantages of my invention I provide afastener section having intermittent pairs of folds forming a pluralityof pockets therein at spaced intervals. The folds of each pair areoppositely disposed and in angular relationship whereby the fastenersection is caused to assume a curved outline and in this manner variousdegrees of curvature may be obtained in such fastener section and apocket is formed at one side of the strip by each of said pairs offolds. The fastener section having the aforementioned pockets formedtherein connects with a head element section having head fastenerelements secured therein at spaced intervals corresponding to thespacing between the pockets in the pocket section which fastenerelements are insertable in the pockets for connecting the sectionstogether.

In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a girdlehaving a detachable crotch connected therein by fastener meansconstructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of the pocket section of my fastenermeans;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged bottom plan view of the pocket section of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of the head elementsection;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view showing the pocket andhead element sections assembled;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view showing an assembledfastener curved both concavely and convexly;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of an assembled fastenershowing in detail the manner of the assembly;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line 8-8 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line 9-? of Fig. 7;

Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken on the plane of the line 1010 of Fig.7;

Fig. 11 is a top plan view of a fastener formed and assembled along acircular outline;

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of the fastener of Fig. 11;

Fig. 13 is a top plan view of a fastener formed and assembled along asomewhat elliptical outline;

Figs. 14 and 15 are fragmentary top plan views of a pocket sectionhaving head fastener elements secured therem at opposite ends of themouths between adjacent pockets respectively.

T he fastener contemplates in general two sections, one having aplurality of pockets formed at spaced intervals in a fabric tape ordirectly in the marginal portions of a garment, the pockets being formedso as to cause such section to assume a curvilinear outline, while theother section has a plurality of head fastener elements secured atcorresponding intervals in a fabric tape or the edge of a garment, eachto cooperate with one of the pockets.

More particularly the fastener includes fiat substantially T-shapedfastener elements extending beyond the edge of the correspondingfastener section, which cooperates with the corresponding pocketsections which open through one face of the corresponding tape or theface of the garment and have abutments in spaced relation to the edge ofthe tape or garment for the arms of the T- shaped head elements, andalso have inwardly projecting folds, the ends of the heads of the headelements being inserted into the pockets beneath said folds and inabutting relation to saidabutments. The head elements are held againstaccidental displacement from their pockets by the folds, and the twosections of the fastener or the garment edges are held against beingpulled apart by engagement of the head elements with said abutments.

The pockets may be of ditferent construction as may also the headelements. Referring to Figs. l-l3 inclusive, reference characters A andB designate respectively the head element section and the pocketsection, these sections being in the form of fabric tapes that areapplied as by stitching to the marginal portions C and D of a garment.

The tape comprising the head element section A is preferably althoughnot necessarily curvilinear and as shown comprises a plurality of layersor plies of fabric, for example, cotton textile fabric, on which aresecured at spaced intervals thereof T-shaped head elements E whichproject from one edge of the tape. Preferably each head element isformed of a single piece of wire bent to provide a stem or shank portioncomprising two spaced and parallel lengths 1 of the wire at one end ofwhich is the head 2 in the form of a loop, preferably curved. The otherend of the shank has a base portion comprising loops 3 which arearranged between opposed plies of the tape and secured to the tape byany suitable means as by stitching. Each head element is in general fiatand lies approximately in the plane of the tape with the head in spacedrelation to the edge of the tape. The tape A is secured on the marginalportions C of the garment with one edge approximately coincident withthe garment edge, the tape being fastened on the garment in any suitablemanner as by lines of stitches 50.

The tape comprising the section B also includes a plurality of layers offabric and has a plurality of pockets F at spaced intervalscorresponding to the spacing between the head elements E and openingthrough one face of the tape. The pockets F as shown are formed byfolding or doubling of the tape upon itself at spaced points to form boxpleats. More particularly and as best shown in Figures 7, 8 and 9, forforming each pocket, the tape is folded in one direction transverselyupon itself as indicated at 5 and is then folded in the oppositedirection as indicated at 6 so as to provide two folds 7 in spacedrelation to each other transversely of the strip that provide edgeportions, lips or flanges 7' for the pocket overlying the bottom of thepocket and forming between them an opening or mouth for the pocket. Inaccordance with my invention the folds 7 are formed in such a way thatthe edges 7' thereof are disposed in angular relation to each otherwhereby the tape is caused to assume a curved outline. Folds 7 may beformed with edges 7' convergmg in one direction or in the otherdirection depending upon whether it is desired to curve the tapeconvexly or concavely (see Fig. 6). Varying degrees of curvature may, ofcourse, be obtained in this manner, and as shown in Fig. 11 the tape maybe caused to assume a circular outline as required for example forconnecting a removable breast pocket to a brassiere, or it may be causedto take on a more elliptical form (see Fig. 12) such as might describethe connection between a jacket at the shoulder and a removable sleeve.The width of the mouth between edges 7 is substantially less while thewidth of the pocket at its bottom is greater than the overall length ofthe head of one of the head elements so that said head can he slippedbeneath said edge portions as best shown in Figure 7.

Each of the pockets has the abutments G for the head of a head elementin spaced relation to the edge of the tape B that is concident with theedge of the corresponding garment section D. These abutments may be ofvarious forms, for example, superposed stitches as shown in thedrawings, or staples or metal eyelets but in all cases, preferably theysecure all of the plies of the tape together at the edge portions of thecorresponding pocket as best shown in Fig. 8. Also the plies of fabricof the tape are secured together by stitches 8 that may be formed in acontinuous operation with the superposed stitches G and by stitches 9below stitches 8. The tape B may be secured to the garment as bystitches 10 which extend across the mouths of pockets F at one end inspaced relation to abutments G. The distance between the stitches G and10 is just sufficient to permit the head of the head element to beinserted into the pocket beneath folds 7 when the head is turneddiagonally to the longitudinal edges of the tape, and the stitches G and10 thus cooperate to hold the head element against accidentaldisplacement from the pocket during the alternate application andrelease of tension on the fastener which tends to cause the head elementto move lengthwise of the pocket when the garment is being worn. Thewidth of the opening or mouth of the pocket between the edge portions 7'is somewhat greater throughout its length than the stem 1 of the headelement so that the latter may enter under the folds 7 when the headelement is inserted into the pocket and the edge portions 7' restrainthe head element against lateral movement.

The operation of the fastener will be apparent from the foregoing. Whenthe fastener sections are separated as shown in Figures 2 and 4 and itis desired to connect them or close the fastener, the heads 2 of thehead elements are inserted into the respective pockets in succession,each head being twisted diagonally to the edge portions of the pockettape and to the longitudinal edges of the pocket mouth and the headelement then being tilted slightly obliquely to the plane of the pockettape alternately in opposite directions to facilitate the slipping ofthe ends of the head beneath the respective edge portions 7' of thepocket. The whole head element including head, shank, and base lies in asubstantially flat plane and is turned while it is approximately in theplane of the tape, as distinguished from the operation of buttons andbutton holes and head and socket snap fasteners. According to applicantsconstruction, there is a minimum of overlapping of the edges of therespective sections A and B when they are assembled.

Any tension on the fastener sections tending to pull them apart, willdraw the heads of the head elements into abutting relation to theabutment elements G. It will be noted that the abutment elements engagethe head elements at points intermediate the stem or shank 1 and theextremities of the head so that the head elements may rock or twist tocompensate for relative movements of the fastener sections that might beincident to movements of the body on which the garment is worn. Toseparate the head elements from the pockets, the head elements are againturned with their heads oblique to the edges of the tape after which thehead is turned alternately in opposite directions obliquely to the planeof the tape to permit withdrawal successively of the portions of thehead from the pocket. Rapid disconnection of the head elements from thepocket in one continuous operation can be eflected by simply pullingapart the edge portions of the garment sections apart while atsubstantially right angles to each other in the manner incident to theteanng of paper.

As shown in Figs. 14 and 15 the head elements E may if desired bepermanently secured in pockets F as by stitches 51 at the diverging orconverging end of the mouth between adjacent pockets depending uponwhether the tape is curved convexly as shown in Fig. 14 or goncavely asshown in Fig. 15. As shown, the loops 3 are secured within the tapewhereas head 2 of the head element projects beyond the edge of the tape.The head end of the element may then be inserted into the pockets ofanother tape having a curvilinear outline and hav ng pockets such asalready described the spacing of which corresponds to the spacing of thepockets having the head elements secured therein.

It is to be understood that various changes and IIIOdI- fications may bemade in the embodiment of my invention as shown and described hereinwithin the scopeof the appended claims and without departing from thespirit and scope of my invention.

In the drawings, the edges of the fastener sections A and B have beenshown as slightly overlapplng, but the fastener sections can be made toabut edge to edge in a common plane by simply lengthening the shanks ofthe head elements B.

What I claim is:

1. A fastener section having pockets each to receive and interlock witha head fastener element having a shank and a head, said fastener sectioncomprising a strip folded or doubled upon itself at longitudinallyspacedpomts along lines transverse of the strip, thereby providing aplurality of box pleats each of which includes two closely spacedoppositely disposed folds converging toward each other on one face ofthe strip and toward one edge of the strip, each box pleat having abottom wall and inwardly projecting flange portions forming an elongatemouth opening through one face of the strip between the adjacent edgesof said flange portions, whereby the edges of the strip are curvedlengthwise, and means securing said flange portions to said bottom wallwith their adjacent edges in spaced relation and angularly related toeach other, the direction of the length of said mouth being transverseto an edge of said fastener section strip and the width of said mouthbeing less than the length of the head of said head element so that thehead of said head element can be inserted through said mouth with itshead beneath said flange portions.

2. A fastener section as defined in claim 1 where1n there are abutmentsbetween said flange portions and said bottom wall of each pocket againstwhich the head of an interlocking head element will abut when located insaid pocket.

3. A fastener comprising a head element section and a pocket section,each section including an elongated strip of flexible material, saidhead element section having a plurality of head elements secured thereonin spaced relation and each being substantially flat and formed with ashank and a head in T-shaped relation, the head of each head elementbeing in spaced relation to the edge of the corresponding strip, thepocket section having pairs of oppositely disposed transverse folds atspaced intervals on the strip with the folds of each pair of folds dlS-posed in angular relationship to each other transversely of the strip sothat said strip has a curved outllne lengthwise, said oppositelydisposed folds of each pair forming a pocket with a mouth openingthrough one face of the strip between the adjacent edges of the folds,said mouth being of a width less than the length of the head of saidhead fastener element so that the head of one of said head elements canbe inserted into said mouth with the extremities of said head beneathsaid folds and in said pocket, the mouths of said pockets being spacedapart lengthwise of the pocket section distances corresponding to thedistances between said head elements on the head element section and theelongated strip of said head element section being curvilinearcorresponding to the curvature of said pocket section strip.

4. A fastener section comprising an elongated strip of flexible materialhaving pairs of oppositely disposed transverse folds at spaced intervalson said strip with the folds of each pair of folds disposed in angularrelationship to each other transversely of the strip so that the striphas a curved outline lengthwise, said oppositely disposed folds of eachpair forming a pocket having a mouth 5 6 openingdthrough ogeffiaze ofdthe Isitrig Fetween the ad- References Cited in the file of this patentjacent e ges of sai o s, an a ea astener cement in each of said pocketsand having a shank, a head in UNITED STATES PATENTS T-shaped relation tosaid shank, and a base portion on 622,349 Halstenbach Apr. 4, 1899 saidshank in spaced relation to said head and disposed 5 2,375,745 AlfandreMay 15, 1945 beneath said folds of the corresponding pocket with the2,500,432 Ravkind et a1. Mar. 14, 1950 shank and head projecting fromone edge of said strip, 2.544.432 Morano Mar. 6, 1951 and means securingsaid base portions to said strip in said pockets.

